LeFrak City resident Olawale Akinnawonu allegedly stole rent checks from his neighbors and opened credit cards in their names.
This is one neighbor you don’t want living anywhere near you.
A LeFrak City resident stole more than $ 100,000 from current and former tenants in the 20-building Queens complex, officials said Tuesday.
Olawale Akinnawonu, 45, fished out rent checks meant for the Corona complex’s management company from outgoing mail boxes with a key he had access to or a specially designed stick that he used to draw envelopes back out through the mail slot, Queens prosecutors said.
He would then use the checks in an elaborate scam to “overpay” credit cards he opened in his victims’ names, then demand the card company reimburse him for the overpayment.
Prosecutors said he would deposit the reimbursement check into an account he could pull cash from or transfer money into his own personal account.
Since the credit cards usually had a balance of zero, the reimbursement check would usually be in the full amount of the initial rent check, which ranged from $ 900 to $ 1,500, officials said.
Investigators caught wind of the elaborate scam after cops in the 110th Precinct received a number of calls about LeFrak residents who said their checks were cashed, but never received by the rental company.
Investigators put video cameras around the mail boxes in LeFrak City and caught Akinnawonu fishing out rent and credit card checks.
Police believe Akinnawonu ran the scam for two years before getting caught, officials said.
Akinnawonu was arrested for money laundering, identity theft and grand larceny, officials said.
His arraignment was pending Tuesday afternoon.
Yahoo Local News – New York Daily News
http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info/?p=15310
via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info
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